Fates Intertwined
by Ivory Chopstick
Summary: In the beginning, Earth was merely a floating piece of matter. It had no purpose, no guidance, no life. It was not until many millennia later that the three Goddesses saw potential in Earth, and took it under Their favor.'
1. Prologue

Prologue   
  
"In the beginning, Earth was merely a floating piece of matter. It had no purpose, no guidance, no life. It was not until many millennia later that the three Goddesses saw potential in Earth, and took it under Their favor.  
  
Din was the spirited sister, the Goddess of Passion and Power. It was from Her the fiery colors of red and orange flow, and it was from Her that emotions lived.  
  
Farore was the beloved sister, the Goddess of Fertility and Courage. It was from Her the rich colors of green and yellow flow, and it was from Her that life sprung.  
  
Nayru was the mediator, the Goddess of Peace and Wisdom. It was from Her the calming colors of blue and purple flow, and it was from Her the beings of the universe took their guidance.  
  
The Goddesses together formed the Wheel of Existence: Maiden, Matron, and Crone.  
  
These Goddesses took Earth in Their palms and breathed existence into it. Din, with arms of flame, carved out the mountains and valleys, leveled the plains, and filled the oceans and seas across the land. From Farore's womb issued beings great and small, to fill the waters and abound upon the earth ever more. Nayru forged balance onto the chaotic world, a scale of opposite spectrums. Light and dark, good and evil, none could live without its counterpart.  
  
At last, each goddess created races modeled after Themselves. Farore created the mystical beings of the Kokiri and the Faerie, two races derived solely from nature and the pureness of heart. Nayru shaped the races of the Sheikah and the Zora, people that valued morals and knowledge above all else. Din produced races of fierce pride and loyalty, the passionate races of Goron and Gerudo. Yet something was missing from the unnamed land. A mixture of the three forces was needed to keep order throughout the world.   
  
The Goddesses then created the seventh race, the race of Hylian. It was for them Hyrule was named, and it was they who kept all traits of the Three within.  
  
Pleased with Their work, the Goddesses departed from the land that was now Hyrule. To remind all living creatures of their heritage, the Three left behind a relic of the forces, shaped by immortal gold, into the three equal triangles. Forged together, and the Triforce was born.  
  
In its place stands a temple of the eternal, or the Temple of Time. It has been said that the Temple of Time protects the might of the Three from corrupted hearts. Only once has a lost soul intruded upon the sacred ground."   
  
Princess Zelda dipped the quill into the ink well and pondered at what to write next. She saw it as her duty to record the lost chronicles of history in legible Hylian. The particular chronicle she was writing, however, was her own. It had never been written down, and not one person knew the tale. The whole of the Earth had been sent back in time, for the repercussions of fate had been irreversible.  
  
Sighing, the princess put down the quill pen and leaned back. In one of the highest towers of the castle was the library, the place where most of her free time was spent. Surrounded by dry and dusty volumes of the past, it was not Zelda's favorite place. She would much rather take the place of her brother, Avidan, in Court, but such a place was reserved for the eldest, something she could never be.  
  
Casting aside remorseful thoughts, Zelda again bent over the piece of parchment and continued the chronicle.  
  
"For many centuries after, the people lived peacefully and prospered. Untamed lands were domesticated, and the Hylians adapted to the new terrain with ease. After many more years, however, the colonies began to quarrel, forgetting their humble beginnings and traditions of old. The Hylians split, and a new people were born. Noridians, they called themselves, and they claimed all of the land beyond the mountains. For the first time, the peoples felt unease and tension flourished between Norida and Hyrule. In the year 742 of King Turyll IV, war broke out and ravaged the earth with a fury unmatched. No race was spared. The Sheikah, long bound to the Royal Family, were slaughtered in mass numbers. The once sacred earth atop the highest peak had been tainted with the blood of innocents.   
  
The Goddesses saw, and they were displeased. Their gifts had been shunned and misused for mortal gain and pleasure. The Three deemed mortals incapable of handling themselves, and separated the Noridians and the Hylians with a range of unappeasable mountains. It was dubbed by mortals the Tynan Pass, and its tallest peak renamed Mount Death.  
  
Though the war had ended, both sides harbored fierce hatred and distrust for the other. Problems, mistakes, and disasters were blamed on the enemy. Generation upon generation were brought up vengeful and full of spite. Neither side learned the Goddesses' lesson.   
  
It was not long after that Din, Nayru, and Farore withdrew Their influence from the lives of men.  
  
Soon, a Gerudo man learned the weakness of the Three, and how gullible the Hylian King was. Though the man swore allegiance to King Turyll IV, he was a deceiver. His name was Ganondorf iul Noekeii Gerudo, King of the desert thieves.  
  
Only the young Princess Zelda of King Turyll IV saw iul Noekeii Gerudo's threat. Through many nights of dark dreams and odd hints, the Princess knew that Ganondorf was the menacing clouds in her nightmares. The King was warned, but took no heed. At long last, the princess took matters into her own hands.   
  
The night of Ganondorf's betrayal, the princess gave the Ocarina of Time to a young forest boy. She had seen in her dreams that he was the light to slice the clouds and banish the shadows. It seemed hopeless, for the King of the Desert had touched the Triforce, and was granted power at his disposal. For seven long years, there was no sign of the forest boy or peace.  
  
Princess Zelda took the guise of a Sheikah man to hide from Ganondorf's terrible reign. Secretly she aided the grown Kokiri boy to victory over the Dark Lord. But triumph was short lived. Seven years of the usurper's rule had left Hyrule devastated and in ruins. Using the Ocarina of Time, Princess Zelda sent the world back in time seven years. Not one race remembered the ordeals and trials many faced, nor did anyone remember the sacrifice of the Kokiri boy. He would forever remain nameless, and his acts of valor forgotten."  
  
Zelda looked out the glass paned window as the sun gracefully sank below the horizon. Satisfied with the work she had done, the parchment was rolled and secured, and the ink and quill returned to the cabinet. Wistfully, she thought of the forgotten forest boy, now not a boy at all. After twenty-seven years, it was painfully obvious that he was in fact a grown Hylian, and a very handsome one at that. Treading lightly down the stone stairs to the main hallway, Princess Zelda walked on to her quarters in the west wing. Her bed had never felt so empty.  
  
"I miss him." She murmured to her pillow. "He never should have left."  
  
"After all, Hyrule is his home. Not Noridia." Zelda jumped at the sound of her nursemaid's voice.  
  
"Impa! What have I told you about walking in on me like that! It's positively unnerving!" Impa smiled slyly. The older Sheikah woman was well past her prime, yet managed to advise the King, train soldiers, and personally care for the Princess.  
  
"I apologize, Princess, for walking in on your romantic thoughts. But I swear, that bed is much too big for one person." Zelda gaped at her nursemaid with utmost sincerity.  
  
"Honestly, Impa! Such words coming from a nursemaid!"  
  
"Ah, but it was exactly what you were thinking. Besides, a woman of my age shouldn't have to worry about what she says. And you hold twenty seven summers! If you're not having thoughts like that, I should have to wonder." Impa smiled gently. "He's a good man, that Link. I shan't stop you if he becomes your lover." She paused. "Your father, on the other hand..." Zelda frowned with disdain.  
  
"He won't have to worry. Link's in another country until Beltane, at least. I would be lucky to see him before Midsummer." Impa's mood suddenly turned sober.  
  
"He won't worry anymore, Princess. You've been betrothed to the Crown Prince of Noridia. The contract was finally agreed upon." The nursemaid gathered the perplexed Zelda in her arms. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry." Zelda closed her eyes in pain.  
  
"I'm sorry too." 


	2. Stuff of Dreams

Chapter 1: Stuff of Dreams  
  
//Large brown jowls swung rhythmically back and forth, left to right. The rank scent of magic gone wrong hung in the air, poisoning it. The greatest beast-man -- make that the only beast-man -- that the young man had ever seen loomed before him, baring a full set of carnivorous teeth. Not for the first time, Link cursed the destiny that had brought him here; hated the dooming vision of darkness; hated the gods for ripping away seven years of his life which left him confused, alone, and suddenly eighteen. But the malicious thought passed in an instant, as Link was thrown back into the present reality. With a bloodcurdling battle cry, he leapt at Ganon, the foul monstrosity that Link was now to slay.  
  
Yet before the blow was ever bestowed, the sword of the gods was ripped out of Link's hands, thrown away by one mighty strike from Ganon. Forced to his knees, the hero was broken, beaten. He knew then that he was not the one to save Hyrule from her prophesied doom. He closed his eyes as the massive claw was drawn back, awaited the death blow, and. . .\\  
  
Gasped as he came back to his senses. Upright in bed, he slowly remembered where he was. His mind connected the image of a Correnyan Town Inn with the country of Noridia. He sighed angrily. Still the nightmare haunted his sleep and he was not even in Hyrule. For nine horrible years he had tried to escape his past, only to realize it was a part of him, as much as his arm or leg. Reaching for the wooden goblet of water beside the bunk, Link washed the sour taste from his mouth, a side effect that accompanied the dreams. Peering out the open window, he was surprised that the sun hadn't risen. At six o'clock in the morning, the sky should have looked different from when he went to sleep. If it was six. He frowned. The noise coming from the tavern below suggested otherwise. Was it possible that he slept the whole day? Slipping off the straw mattress, he quickly dressed, clipped his sword belt on, and headed downstairs.  
  
~*~  
  
The first thing she noticed about the man as he came down the narrow flight of stairs was the sword at his waist. It was not often anyone carried such a weapon. Most made do with simple knives and the occasional crossbow. As Reye studied him more closely, she realized that his sword was not the only weapon on him. The man also had a quiver strapped to his back and a longbow over his broad shoulder. He looked to be in his late twenties. Her gaze flickered to his strongly boned face, and she realized that the man wasn't from Noridia. His hair was too light, his eyes too blue. Most everyone born in this country had solemner features that consisted of dark eyes and dusky skin. He was intriguing for the way he moved, confident and sure of himself, but not arrogant, as many men who carried swords were. There was something else as well. Something Reye couldn't place. Nonetheless, she grinned slyly at the thought of new blood within the sparring ring and waited patiently.  
  
Raking his hand through wheat-blonde hair, Link cursed in Hylian as he realized that he had slept through the entire day. More hours than he cared to imagine had already been wasted by sheer sloth. He felt no better as he saw the laughing scorn in the inn master's beady eyes as he told Link about extra charges for the night. 'May Din curse them all, greedy Noridian sops.' Link was decidedly in a bad mood, and silently cursing those who bothered him made him feel no better. Scanning the room around him, he realized that all the chairs were currently filled with drunken idiots. All chairs, except for one. Link's eyebrows shot up as he saw an obviously single woman sitting directly across from the open seat. He had to admit that the evening was beginning to perk up, if only a bit. Snatching a sorry Noridian substitute for his favorite drink, he casually walked up to the individual's table.  
  
Reye's thoughts instantly changed as the man sat down across from her. 'By Farore, he's impossibly good-looking.' She thought as he introduced himself. She heard her conscience mutter something to her, that no good could come of him. Reye couldn't care less.   
  
"I'm Link." He stated in accented Noridian as he shook her hand. His palm was calloused, as Reye expected it to be, and his voice pleasantly melodious.   
  
"Is that it?" She asked in puzzlement over the missing surname.  
  
"No. . . My surname is. . . Difficult to pronounce in your tongue. Not many out of my country can manage it." Link grinned wryly as this wasn't the first time someone had asked. A pity that the woman opposite him was not willing to give up.  
  
"Oh come now, can't you at least try me before dismissing my outlandish tongue?" She gave him a winning smile, seeking to push him into telling her.  
  
Link groaned inwardly as he heard her request. He had never gone a day without someone trying to impress him by pronouncing his surname. All they did was butcher his native language with their coarse, gritty speech. It took all Link could muster not to slap the woman grinning at him. Mentally clogging his ears, he quickly spat out his last name, took a swig of awful Noridian whiskey, and braced himself for the worst.  
  
"Link iul Kokiri?" Reye repeated, mimicking the words as soon as Link said them, so as not to forget the pronunciation. She relished the thickly rolling syllables as they came off her tongue. It felt natural, that graceful language of. . . Hyrule. She smiled coyly, now pleased with herself by finding the answer. She had not heard that language for so long. . . Yet there was a trace of accent there, within every syllable this Link spoke. Reye almost laughed out loud at the expel of words coming from his mouth. Though she couldn't understand him, Reye was certain the utterances he spewed were a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "You're from Hyrule, aren't you?" She asked.  
  
"Yes." He started, slightly wary. "How did you know?"  
  
"I'm from Hyrule." The statement was simple and purely factual. Link stared at the woman across from him.  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"I was born and raised in Hyrule." She said, voice tinged with memories. "But you don't have the usual accent. And I have never heard any of those words you just spat in my life." Link barely heard her. Studying her features, he reckoned that he should have taken her for what she was. In all his travels, Link had never seen a green eyed, red haired Noridian. Her facial features were too light for the heavy-boned faces he saw here. No, it was suddenly and embarrassingly obvious he had just mistaken one of his own for a Noridian. Meanwhile, Reye awaited his answer.  
  
"Did you hear me?" She asked him as politely as her waning patience could bare  
  
"Wha-? Oh, where I was born, we were taught both common Hylian and old Hylian. Sometimes it's easier not to let people know what I'm saying."  
  
"Especially since you are a traveler, yes?"  
  
"That is the main reason." Link grinned slightly. "But you haven't told me your name."  
  
"No, I suppose I haven't." Reye drifted off. "If you really want to know, my name is Reye Kankoriko. And I have a favor to ask of you."  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
As Link heard the utterance from Reye's mouth, he rapidly got up and turned to leave. The last time he had accepted a request he had been traveling the world on a quest for some fictional old man. Link vowed he would never be caught in that situation again.  
  
"No, wait! You don't understand! Could you at least hear me out before your cowardice takes over and you're sailing the sea?!" Turning back to her, he saw her eyes take a determined set that reminded Link uncomfortably of the cold, jade marble cliffs.  
  
"What? Get to the point, woman."  
  
"I wish to travel back to my homeland. Yet... I cannot do so alone, especially when the journey requires travel across the mountains. It is obvious you hate it in Noridia, and two travelers together are better than one. . ." Link was unamused.  
  
"What makes you think that I'd drop everything to travel with--"  
  
"I have gold." He eyed her carefully. Few were willing to admit they carried gold, and fewer still were willing to part with it.  
  
"How much gold?"  
  
"The price of your services will be decided at the end of the journey by how many hardships encountered. In other words, enough to leave you satisfied. Do you find this acceptable?" Link paused to think. The woman was right. Even as versatile as he knew himself to be, gold was needed to fund his travels. He was never known to turn down a reasonable offer of money, and this time would be no exception.  
  
"I find this offer acceptable." After shaking hands, Reye got up.  
  
"We leave at daybreak tomorrow. Don't sleep in." Exiting swiftly with a gloating smile, she left Link scowling and wondering what he had gotten himself into.  
  
***  
  
//The princess turned to him, light refracting off of her long gold tresses and illuminating her fair features. She was the love of his life, moreover the only utterly unattainable thing Link had ever known. Turning to him suddenly, Link watched raptly as the woman in his dream stared at him through eyes the colour of the sky at twilight. She at last began to speak, but not through mortal tongue, or by way of the mind. No, she spoke through her eyes, endless pools of violet that threatened to engulf Link even in his dreams.   
  
Princess Zelda mourned.  
  
It hit Link with such a cruel chill that a shudder ran up his spine, and he trembled involuntarily. What had occurred in the few months that he had been gone to distress Zelda so? She, the most steadfast and wisest of the land, had been caught unawares by Link knew naught of. She had the look of a sentenced prisoner at the gallows, distressed but resigned to her fate. He wanted to tell her everything at that moment, and his emotions got the better of his senses as he opened his mouth, but she spoke to him first.  
  
"Sir, 'tis that time to wake now." Link gaped in confusion. What?--\\  
  
One of the chamber maids was shaking his arm, a maiden far from the princess in his dreams. Groaning, Link waved the girl away and stiffly got to his feet.   
  
"Well?" He grumbled in Noridian made rough by the remnants of sleep, "I'm awake now, you're dismissed." Satisfied, the maid scurried off to her other duties. Link looked out the thick glass window. Judging from the lack of daylight, he dimly thanked Nayru that he had not slept passed dawn. He would not miss this journey home.  
  
***  
  
Reye cracked open an eye and peered at the stable hand gaping at her sleeping place. Though it was not every day that the boy saw a grown woman sleeping amongst the horses, Reye did not appreciate the country yokel's impertinence. Sighing, the woman pulled herself out of the warm bed of hay and removed extra bits from her loose braid.  
  
"What?" She asked curtly, impatient to get on the road.  
  
"Y-you--"   
  
"Don't you have some work to do?" Reye enforced her words with a copper piece. Still stunned, the boy ran off with a dazed nod. It was simpler to pay off a stable hand than an inn keeper. Besides, her horse was better company than any tavern goer. As if hearing her thoughts, her stallion, Kyrone, whinnied loudly.   
  
"Yeah, I hear you." Reye told him with mock annoyance. "We'll be on the road soon enough." Kyrone bobbed his head eagerly. She eyed him as she saddled him up. "You had better be nice to this Link fellow. None of your nonsense like last time, okay? Din knows that he's the only person willing to travel over the pass in the middle of autumn. So don't blow it." Her stallion looked a bit sheepish, but the attitude vanished as quickly as a keg of ale in front of a couple of drunkards. Reye muttered a small profanity under her breath. The woman would be lucky if they made it to the next town without Kyrone's mischief. The roguish stallion looked positively gleeful once his tack was on. Reye had to admit that Kyrone possessed as much wanderlust as she herself had.   
  
She was caught suiting up by Link.  
  
"Ready to go, Hylian?" Reye asked him, glancing up from buckling in her artillery.  
  
"As always, Lady Reye." She ignored the mock-title that Link had given her.  
  
"And your mount?" The woman questioned further, noticing the lack of horseflesh at the man's side. Link pulled out a worn but polished ocarina and played a lilting and remarkably simple melody while Reye looked on, puzzled. A rust toned mare proudly trotted straight into Link's care.  
  
"Allow me to introduce Epona." He gestured toward his mellow steed.  
  
"Creative." Reye commented, more than a little awed at the mare's obedience. "Are you prepared to leave?" She asked again, discarding the tone of admiration used a moment before. Link nodded curtly, and promptly mounted Epona. Reye followed suite.  
  
"It is time this journey began."  
  
***  
  
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Weee! Finally finished editing this littly baby. sorry if things are confusing and if you could take maybe 5 minuted out of your day I would be extremely grateful & would love you forever if you could email me at robyn-byrd@excite.com for editing suggestions (which also means i owe you a favor of some kind....). The next chapter will hopefully not take as long since spring break is coming up shortly & i will have more time to write (thank din).  
  
If you could, i would be very much obliged if you could review too (i'd love some quasi-fans). *hugs all around* 


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